Sunday, April 12, 2009

My first Irish Cheese is Ready!

Last week was a short week, as we didn't work on Good Friday. Once again I spent my time at Gubbeen between helping with making cheese and curing cheese. Some of the first cheeses I made here were finally mature enougth for me to taste. I was very pleased with the results and so was Giana. I just need to fine tune them a little bit. I was able to explore the Irish country side by bike a little more this weekend. The rest of my time has been planing my trip to England and then on to Switzerland and Germany.

Cheese hound, The cheese I made is a semi soft cheese, with a nice creamy texture and a nutty finish. I do not know how else to explain it. I'm happy with how it turned out, I just need to fine tune it.Jon

The following response came from the food safety specialist of Honduras. The translated version is first, followed by the originial message: The adventure of visiting other countries and get involved with their procedures to make cheese, sanitary measures, new equipment and more appropriate technologies that allow cheese-maker sons to dream in making a honduran cheese that in a particular time could participate in an international contest and obtain the first place; only being able to talk with different characters like the cheese -maker masters allow young people to have a new perspective about the art of making a product, and when is tasted, smelled and touched will let you have a well-being feeling allowing you to digress, and have a pleasant dreams avoiding stress and extending life. I'm pleased to send this article.

My Life as a Traveling Cheesemaker

Wisconsin is home to more than 1,200 licensed cheesemakers. In 2008 alone, 39 aspiring men and women earned their cheesemaker licenses -- a fairly involved process that involves significant classroom time and hundreds of hours working as an apprentice cheesemaker in a working cheese factory.

Jon Metzig, a young cheesemaker who grew up in his family's cheese factory, Union Star Cheese, near Fremont, Wis., decided to follow in his father's footsteps and earned his cheesemaker's license while still in high school. Today, he has embarked on a cheesemaking career, and will spend the next two months working with cheesemakers in Ireland, England, Switzerland and Germany to learn Old World techniques that he hopes to bring back to the United States.

The Dairy Business Innovation Center and the Babcock Institute, two sponsors of Jon's trip, encourage you to follow along with Jon as he travels across Europe and shares his findings with readers here on ... So You Want to be a Cheesemaker.

About Me

I grew up - literally - on top of my family's cheese factory, Union Star, near Fremont, Wis. As young as seven years old, I would help out in the cheese factory. During the spring of my senior year of high school I took a week off of school to take a cheese makers course at the University of Wisconsin, took the cheesemaker license test and passed. After graduation, I attended UW- River Falls where I studied under Ranee May and worked in the pilot plant on campus. I graduated with a degree in Agriculture Business and a minor in Food Science. After graduation, I took a job with Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese near Waterloo, Wis., where I have worked since and will return after my trip. On this trip I hope to learn more about traditional cheese making -- especially washed rind cheese. I plan on visiting some cheddar factories in Somerset, England to learn more about bandaged cheddar.